Review: Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

Book: Unravel Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me
Publication Date: February 5th, 2013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Rating: 3.5 Stars

tickticktickticktickit's almosttime for war.
Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.
She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.
Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.
In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.

What I think of Juliette:



What I think of Kenji:



What I think of Adam:



What I think of Warner:



In terms of problems from Shatter Me, this book still has them. We still have no idea why the world is decaying and why animals are dying. The prose, while not as obnoxious as it was in the first book, is still pretty heavy. I really don't think the strikeouts are necessary. They add absolutely nothing to the plot, and I would've enjoyed the story more if it wasn't Juliette narrating. I thought Destroy Me's prose was actually pretty good, since Warner didn't go overboard with his descriptions like Juliette does. Juliette is still annoying as hell, from her self-pity to her inability to control her own hormones or tears. In addition, she enjoys stuttering uncontrollably and rambling on and on about how she can't speak or how she's in pain. When she was told to interrogate Warner, she barely tried and instead held small talks with him. How fascinating her self-control would be, if only it existed. Now, there are places where her uncontrollable yapping does help, especially in chapter 62. Hot damn.

Kenji and Warner carry this novel all the way through. I was drooling over myself in boredom before Kenji took control of the situation and basically bitch-slapped Juliette in the face multiple times with his words. It was awesome. I can appreciate Mafi's self-awareness in this novel, but I still don't think Juliette changed much. She still whines and cries, despite all of Kenji's attempts to tell her to get over herself. The other characters are explored as well, and I like the insights into their lives that we get. I don't know how I feel about Castle yet; the way he treated Warner did seem kind of brainless, but oh well.

Warner, Warner, Warner. I was bemoaning the fact that I'm starting to crush on the bad guys in books instead of the guys the MCs should end up with to my friend. Warner is dark chocolate. Dark and sinful, with the barest tinge of sweetness. Especially in this book, we see so much more of his humanity and his capability for redemption. He develops into a person who has done bad things, who recognizes how hard it is to feel, and who wants to redeem himself for the people he cares about. Where Warner is dark chocolate, Adam is white chocolate. Not authentic, and so sweet it's liable to give you diabetes. Only good in small amounts. Mafi obviously focused a lot of her efforts on the other characters, but in doing so, she skipped over Adam's character. He makes no progress in this book; the only times we get to see him are when he corners Juliette in dark tunnels and begs her to take him back. I have to agree with Warner when he tells Adam that he doesn't deserve Juliette. While it baffles me as to why anyone would want to deserve Juliette, Adam doesn't accomplish anything. Instead, it seems like he's just there to prove everything Warner says about him correct.

A lot more shit goes down in this book, and the plot actually does take direction. It's an improvement, and I'm really hoping for some more chocolate in the next book, dark or white. But not milk. I hate milk.

Review: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Book: Clockwork Princess
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices
Publication Date:  March 19th, 2013
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.

Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

You are not the last dream of my soul. You are the first dream, the only dream I ever was unable to stop myself from dreaming. You are the first dream of my soul, and from that dream I hope will come all other dreams, a lifetime’s worth.

"I had hope enough to take out those old dreams again, to dust them off and give them to you."

"...yours is not the kind of love that can be redeemed only through destruction."
 
Can I say that after reading A Tale of Two Cities, all of these references suddenly make so much sense to me now? My God, my AP Literature teacher should've just let me read Clockwork Princess instead of harping continuously about how Darnay was the better man (which he was not).

I think this book is the best of Clare's that I've read so far, in that it ends the way the final book of a trilogy should end. Not the way City of Glass did, with more space for more books and unresolved endings. The epilogue has been controversial, and it reminds me a bit of the epilogue for the Harry Potter series. I recall that when people were messaging Cassandra Clare and wailing about whether the ending would make them cry, she said somewhere that it was a bittersweet one. And that's exactly what it is. Something Cassandra Clare really specializes in is not giving people what they want. Most people wanted that happy ending, that assurance that all Tessa's problems would be solved with some miraculous magic. There is magic, but there's also the reality of Tessa's situation and of her immortality. Unlike with The Mortal Instruments, I didn't get the feeling that Clare was pushing the envelope with her plot or the powers that are unveiled.

People have already said things about the love triangle and how beautiful it is, and I'm inclined to agree. Of course, I was a Will/Tessa shipper all the way through (if you couldn't tell through all the Will quotes that I used), but the way that all three of them love each other equally is something that's powerfully expressed throughout the series. Their love for each other is equal parts burdensome and joyful, and no character was left without honor.

One thing about Clare's books that always gets me is how I never seem to predict what will happen. She throws in a lot of curveballs, some more convincing than others. I'm really sad to see The Infernal Devices trilogy end because I loved everything about it. I loved the characters, their humor, the setting of 19th century London. There is a certain subdued power behind the series that I didn't get with The Mortal Instruments, and I hope that Clare brings it back in her next Shadowhunters series rumored to be set in the 1900s which I just stumbled upon in a review O_O (thank you, Maja).

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Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Book: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass 
Publication Date: August 7th, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
Rating: 4 Stars

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four  years and then be granted her freedom.

Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead... quickly followed by another.

Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Not a bad book to pick to bring me out of my fantasy drought. I've been a frequent FictionPress member, and I remember finding out about all the people raving over Queen of Glass, which was the original title of this novel. Imagine my disappointment to find out that it was removed, and then imagine my excitement to find out that it was slotted for publication. I was pretty darned excited for this book because assassins. Killing! Blood! I love killing. And blood. I guess you can't really have one without the other.

Anyhow, I'll come right out and say it: this book does have problems. It has problems with world-building, and it has problems in the way that Celaena is touted as a world-famous assassin when she never actually assassinates anyone. She just threatens to rip out eyeballs and cut heads off. Which is not bad, but I would've liked a better demonstration of her abilities. There's also the love triangle. I don't have too big of a problem with love triangles; unlike many others, I'm actually waiting for a love triangle that will actually fulfill the purpose of a love triangle, as in it is an equilateral love triangle. Not a scalene or isosceles one. Not a Twilight-esque one where everyone knows who the main character's going to end up getting married and having half-vampire babies with. Throne of Glass nearly accomplished that because I'm really uncertain whom Celaena is going to end up with. The tests themselves aren't very important to the rest of the story, even though they seem to be emphasized in the book summary. There are nebulous references to Celaena's past and the formation of the kingdom of Erilea, but not enough to really form a cohesive other world.

However, I still gave this book four stars. When I was a sad little surfer on FictionPress, looking for stories that didn't mix up your and you're or alternate between first and second person, I would've gotten through this story in a day. It has a fascinating premise, some creative ideas, a heroine who isn't a simpering whiner, and court intrigue. But given all the books I've had exposure to, this isn't anything special anymore. But it kept me interested, and I didn't really notice the flaws until I put it down when I was done and thought about it. The last scene in the end when Celaena is fighting Cain, I was hopping up and down in the middle of Spanish class. And we were about to take a quiz. But I think that Maas does a good job with the action, and I didn't have a hard time visualizing what was happening. I also liked the descriptions of Celaena with her dresses and primping, though it got a bit too frivolous sometimes.

What I really enjoyed was the relationship between Celaena and Chaol. I never liked Dorian very much because although he did have ulterior motives besides playing lapdog to the king, he still seemed too much like a jaded pretty boy. Their interactions were more spurred by physical attraction than anything else. Celaena and Chaol, on the other hand, verbally spar. But when it's important, they have an understanding of each other that goes deeper. I hope we get more than just a couple glimpses of that in the next book. In conclusion, I liked the book. I like any books that manages to keep my interest. It's only when I write this review that I really acknowledge what it was lacking. On a happier note, my thirst for YA fantasy novels has been awoken again! I'll quench it once I finish the other five books I'm reading...
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Review: The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

Book: The Lost Girl
Author: Sangu Mandanna
Publication Date: August 28th, 2012
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Rating: 4 Stars

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination--an echo. She was made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her "other," if she ever died. Eva spends every day studying that girl from far away, learning what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But sixteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything and everyone she's ever known--the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love--to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

From debut novelist Sangu Mandanna comes the dazzling story of a girl who was always told what she had to be--until she found the strength to decide for herself.

But I don’t have a sword. My shield is broken. I don’t know what is and isn’t honorable anymore. And now I’ve sent my knight away.

It took me a long time to finally get to reading this book, but I guess the wait was worth it. I've hear raving reviews about it for a long time, but when I initially read the blurb, it didn't really appeal to me. After all, we've already seen lots of stories about girls who switch spots in life. True, there's a more supernatural twist added to this premise, but not enough to change the supposed outcome (girl adjusts to new life, finds new boy to love, makes friends that she never would've made otherwise, etc). Really, it should have all the elements of a feel-good chick lit.

But that's not what The Lost Girl is about. It's comprised of three parts. In the first, we learn about Eva's peaceful life in a cottage beside a lake, surrounded by people who love her but always with the looming concern that one day, she will have to serve her purpose. She exists for another person, and it's difficult because she must imitate every facet of her Other's lifestyle. In this part, I really appreciated the kindness that humans are capable of, especially in the way Eva's guardians behave. Although they follow the rules, the small allowances they make are what endeared me to them. Sean, especially, is wonderfully portrayed as logical but sweet. In my opinion, the first part is the best portion of the book: Eva's world and her conflict is beautifully portrayed, and the way it all comes screeching to a halt adds to the drama.

In the second part, Eva adjusts to her new life. What I loved about this was her frequent memories of her old life and the bittersweet nostalgia that those memories are tinged with. I liked her new family, and I thought there was a nice balance between their belief and disbelief that Amarra was still alive. It was relatively normal and typical, until she starts breaking the rules. The third part is when she finally goes on the run.

What stands out about this book is not its idea, but rather the way it's executed. The emotions running through it--desperation, hope, desire--are almost tangible. Each character is well-written, though maybe not as three-dimensional as I'd hoped. I can't say I absolutely loved the book, but I liked the precision that characterized its structure. I couldn't really get sucked in because I was always dubious about the idea of having an echo replace a loved one. What kind of person could convince him/herself that a copy is the same as the original?

At any rate, I enjoyed the book, especially the sweet love story and Eva's struggle for freedom. It's not the most intricate plot I read, but I definitely think this is a worthy debut.

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Review: Pivot Point by Kasie West

Book: Pivot Point
Author: Kasie West
Series: Pivot Point #1
Publication Date: February 12th, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 4 Stars

Knowing the outcome doesn’t always make a choice easier . . .

Addison Coleman’s life is one big “What if?” As a Searcher, whenever Addie is faced with a choice, she can look into the future and see both outcomes. It’s the ultimate insurance plan against disaster. Or so she thought. When Addie’s parents ambush her with the news of their divorce, she has to pick who she wants to live with—her father, who is leaving the paranormal compound to live among the “Norms,” or her mother, who is staying in the life Addie has always known. Addie loves her life just as it is, so her answer should be easy. One Search six weeks into the future proves it’s not.

In one potential future, Addie is adjusting to life outside the Compound as the new girl in a Norm high school where she meets Trevor, a cute, sensitive artist who understands her. In the other path, Addie is being pursued by the hottest guy in school—but she never wanted to be a quarterback’s girlfriend. When Addie’s father is asked to consult on a murder in the Compound, she’s unwittingly drawn into a dangerous game that threatens everything she holds dear. With love and loss in both lives, it all comes down to which reality she’s willing to live through . . . and who she can’t live without.

This book packs a punch, it really does. I've been reading positive reviews about it for a long time, and so I was pretty excited when I won it through First Reads. When I started, I wasn't too blown away. The story centers around Addie, who has the ability to see two alternate fates when she's forced to make a decision. She decides to use the power when her parents divorce and she has to choose who she'll follow: her father, to the "normal world," or her mother in the world she's used to.

The superpowers themselves aren't that amazing. They're very similar to your typical X-Men powers, from moving mass to erasing memories. What really surprised me was how Kasie West wove the plot. She approaches it in a different and creative way by alternating between the two possible futures that Addie sees. We know which choice Addie is experiencing by the definitions that precede the chapters, which either have a word containing PARA (for Paranormal) or NORM (normal, obviously). I bet some of you are like, "Well, duh. What else could they be for?" but I actually only figured this out when I was 3/4 through the book. Call me stupid -_- I thought they were just dumb definitions that were supposed to somehow hint at what the chapter was about.

My favorite part was probably Addie's Norm life. I think that's because of Trevor. He's adorable and quietly confident, as opposed to Duke. Duke is the very exemplification of any annoying YA teenage boy: charming, cocky, making the girls drool (I do not drool over football players who think they're cool, thank you very much). I was like "Oh God, love triangle" when I started reading about Duke and Trevor, but it turns out that it's not a love triangle. Addie's choice of boys is made from the very start, and I think West deserves points for subtly hinting at who really is the boy for Addie. Back to Trevor; his love for comics was a surprise, and I really enjoyed it. The approach that Addie takes to finally telling him about her secret is interesting. I doubt many girls who are hiding their supernatural abilities from unsuspecting, cute high school boys use a comic to get their point across. Addie's final choice absolutely broke my heart, since I was rooting for the other option. Hopefully, things will get better in the second book...

Anyway, apart from the boys, I really enjoyed the plot. I do find Poison a bit random and believe that West should've expanded on why the Bureau decided he was the one guilty. Also, I'm still waiting to see why there's such a big deal made about the fact that Addie is Divergent and not Clairvoyant. Other than that, I was way hooked on the last couple chapters. The ending definitely threw me for a loop; I wasn't expecting so many secrets kept. And when you step back and think about the book and the way that West chose the characters that she did to have certain powers, you really have to admire the way she strung everything together so that all of these choices are relevant. All in all, this book has restored my faith in YA.

Also, Trevor and Addie 5EVA.

Thanks to HarperTeen for giving me a chance to read and review this book.

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Review: Crewel by Gennifer Albin

Book: Crewel
Author: Gennifer Albin
Series: Crewel World
Publication Date: October 16th, 2012
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Rating: 3 Stars

Enter a tangled world of secrets and intrigue where a girl is in charge of other’s destinies, but not her own.

Sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has always been special. When her parents discover her gift—the ability to weave the very fabric of reality—they train her to hide it. For good reason, they don’t want her to become a Spinster — one of the elite, beautiful, and deadly women who determine what people eat, where they live, how many children they have, and even when they die.

Thrust into the opulent Western Coventry, Adelice will be tried, tested and tempted as she navigates the deadly politics at play behind its walls.  Now caught in a web of lies and forbidden romance, she must unravel the sinister truth behind her own unspeakable power.  Her world is hanging by a thread, and Adelice, alone, can decide to save it — or destroy it.

So after I stopped mourning over the fact that I couldn't read the galley of this because MacMillan took it down, I finally got down to business when this book came out and read it. And well, it was interesting. The world is definitely as enigmatic and intriguing as the cover, and I think what this book really has going for it is the originality that's been incorporated through the world that Albin has created. But if we step back and really look at what this book stands for, we see that it's no different from any other doomy dystopian novel. There's the government that controls everything the people does, the President Snow-like commander who calls all the shots and crushes all opposition, and what I like to call "the other side of the fence," the convenient deux ex machina that chooses to make itself known at the most opportune time so there's always a place for the heroine to escape.

I honestly cannot pinpoint my feelings about this book. On one hand, it kept me flipping pages because I wanted to discover more about the world of the Creweler. I like the idea of having threads that make up people. But the world is not enough for a book. I liked Adelice. I especially admired her quick comebacks and her rebellious nature, but sometimes I wouldn't understand why she would do certain things. Also, I just didn't see why she loved Amie so much. I know they're sisters, but it seemed more like she thought of Amie as a burden than anything else. And her parents are mentioned at sparse intervals. It's another classic example of using the dead family to motivate the heroine, but in this case, Adelice never made her love for her family very clear.

Then, we have the bitchy, bitter shell of a woman who also isn't as good as the heroine. Naturally. And the two equally attractive men but of course Adelice chooses the one with the dark past. I liked Jost, though. Actually, for a while I was gunning for Erik, just because I like the whole well-groomed-but-rebellious shindig he had going before I realized he was way too one-dimensional. Then we have a whole host of characters who help Adelice but pay the price for doing so. Naturally. Also, the ending was just this big cliffhanger that involves the characters going to the "other side," which is the worst excuse for an ending ever. I'm worried about the dystopian genre. It's becoming way too predictable, which should never be the case for an end-of-the-world book. Here's to hoping that some book will break out of the mold and wow us all. 
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Review: The Selection by Kiera Cass

Book:  The Selection
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection
Pages: 327
Publishing Date: April 24th, 2012
Publisher: Harper Teen
My rating: 1 Star

Goodreads Summary:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

May I present to everyone The Hunger Games...Girlified!
Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I am drawing comparisons between the two, there is no way that this sad little novel (if it can even be called that) will ever match up to The Hunger Games.

Similarity #1: A "cutthroat" competition in which only one winner will be left standing.
Why It's Girlified: Instead of engaging in bloody struggles to the death, the girls instead compete by wearing prettier dresses, better makeup, and having etiquette. The closest they get to violence is when one bitch-slaps the other.

Similarity #2: A poor heroine who seems like an unfeeling douche in the beginning but somehow manages to endear herself to the public with her antics.
Why It's Girlified: America Singer (this name. I can't even.) is the most self-centered, weepy little twit I've ever read about. She does multiple things that would be considered horrible if others had done them, such as badmouthing the prince, throwing tantrums, but somehow the prince loves her and wants to be her best friend (because he's as stupid as she is, probably), and the public adores her.
This quote basically sum up her dazzling personality:

His black T-shirt was worn to threads in several places, just like the shabby pair of jeans he wore almost every day. If only I could sit and patch them up for him. That was my great ambition.

First selling off virginity, then this. This book is doing leaps and bounds for femininity, let me tell ya.

Similarity #3: The love triangle between the boy back home and the new boy whose personality the MC comes to know and adore.
Why It's Girlified: I can't make a decision between Aspen and Maxon. Why? Because I would rather make no decision at all. Neither of them have desirable qualities besides their broad shoulders and strong fingers. Cass needs to learn that just because the guys are hot doesn't mean they won't act like sticks of wood.

We have Aspen:
He ripped back my blankets in a move both graceful and violent.

I was internally screaming RAPE at this part. Love of my life or no, I don't want him ripping my sheets off me after I hesitated over answering whether or not I loved someone else.

We have Maxon:
He had his own smell, a mix of chemicals that burned out from him.

Do any of you find the fact that Maxon is toxic attractive? Because I don't.

Basically, what I'm saying is that this book has obvious aspects that come from The Hunger Games. However, it is also so girlified, teenybopperified, and altogether stupidified that these features have become almost unrecognizable. The writing is clumsy. It goes sort of like this:

Yesterday I brushed my teeth. I looked out my window and saw my boyfriend with his arms around another girl. Tears welled in my eyes. I smiled. I smiled again. I whisper-yelled at him. It took a while for me to rest, since I was so tired.

It's so painfully elementary that I wanted to slam my head against a tile.

Anyway. Please don't be like me, in that others' countless negative reviews weren't enough to convince you this book is utter crap. Because it is. Even the ending is crap. I might have been a bit more lenient if Cass hadn't finished what she'd started this book for. I don't even get what the conflict was. And there was no anticlimactic finale. There was no climax AT ALL. The plot is just a straight, boring line to nowhere. There were some iffy mentions of rebels and America's doubts about Illéa (doesn't make any sense to me why that makes this a dystopian, but whatever), but that's all overshadowed by the pressing concern of getting the attentions of some prince who doesn't know jack about his own country but still manages to make spur-of-the-moment, groundbreaking decisions. Oh, and he claims to know nothing about girls and to be afraid of their crying, but he manages to say all the right things and bring them all into giggly puddles of goo? This is disgusting and unflattering. I'm sure I speak for most women when I say that not all of us are reduced into pathetic tear-streaked damsels because of some guy.

I tried to read this like a chick lit. I did. But I doubt even my swoony, easily convinced self would've liked this.

My computer erased my previous review, which was already 3/4 written, which makes me hate this book even more.



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Review: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins

Book: Spell Bound
Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: Hex Hall
Publishing Date: March 13th, 2012
Publisher: Hyperion Book CH
My rating: 3 Stars

**There will be spoilers, but I'll tell you beforehand**
It's finally over! *big exhale* I'm giving this book 3 stars because, despite the quips and awesome make out scenes, it was still lacking a lot of important parts that make up a novel. But I'll begin with the things I liked about it.

Sophie's character. Sometimes she was a bit blabbery and annoying, but I never thought her choices were dumb. Her internal monologue actually made me laugh multiple times, and she exemplifies the teenager with tons of supernatural issues perfectly. She deals with them with a certain amount of light-heartedness and fear, which I thought were sincere and real. Not many authors remember to make their heroines have a bit of common sense, and I'm glad Sophie had some of that.

Her relationship with Jenna. I loved it in the previous books, and in this one, it was the same sort of snappy camaraderie that makes them so likable.

The fact that even though the plot was serious and pretty darned freaky, Hawkins managed to insert humorous parts that alleviated the heaviness. Some could argue that it ruined the atmosphere and made problems seem insignificant, but I liked it.

What I didn't like, however, was the suddenness of the plot. I finished the book in one day, so it was a short read. But I thought everything was executed too quickly, especially the part with the war. I mean, it took up, what, five pages? And it seemed too easy. It was like get in, faint[ witches kill themselves, fiance dies (hide spoiler)], and everything is happily ever after. There was some unfinished business, and I didn't like it. What happened to the Vandy, Torin? And the thing with the dream at the end seemed like Hawkins just wanted to hurry up and finish the book. I would've liked to see what happened immediately after the battle sequence, not Sophie just passing out.

Okay. You are now venturing into spoiler territory. I repeat, SPOILER TERRITORY. Read on at your own risk.

Also, the thing that irked me most was how Hawkins solved the issue of the love triangle in the end. I mean, killing off the other guy? That just seemed completely undeserved, and I felt really sad at the end, even though Cal comes back to haunt them. It just didn't feel complete to me, and it was more than cliche.

That said, I did enjoy this book, and I recommend it for anyone who wants a whole lot of magic and cheese.

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